‘A truly lovely man’

Mason claimed world indoor bronze for Jamaica in 2003 and recovered after suffering a career-threatening knee injury the following year.

He was eligible to represent Britain because his father David was born in London, and he switched allegiance two years before the Beijing Games.

On his Olympic debut, he managed 2.34m at his first attempt, with favourite Silnov the only athlete to clear 2.36m.

British Athletics senior high jump coach Fuzz Caan, who worked closely with Mason at the time of his Olympic success, called him an “outstanding athlete and a truly lovely man”.

“He had a wry sense of humour and was a pleasure to be around. He was a great ambassador of British high jumping. It is an honour for us to have him as part of our sporting history,” he said.

UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos said staff were saddened to hear of Mason’s death.

“Our deepest sympathies go to Germaine’s friends, family and the athletics community at this difficult time,” he said.

Germaine Mason encourages the crowd to get involved at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

‘Definitely one of the jokers of the pack’

Retired sprinter Jeanette Kwakye, who was part of the GB athletics team in Beijing along with Mason, said he was “really, really fun, really, really cool and nice to be around”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, Kwakye added: “The one word that I would describe Germaine was fun.

“He was somebody that was so loveable, really caring and always fun.”

She added: “You never really saw Germaine with a sad look on his face. In fact, I think the picture that the media are using a lot is where he’s kind of putting his hand to his ear, and I can tell you that was when he was jumping over the high jump bar in Beijing and getting the crowd to make loads and loads of noise.

“He wanted to make sure he could hear them, so he’s definitely one of the jokers of the pack.”

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